Originally posted by: Ornery
I've got 4 PCs running here, and 3 of them are WAY over a year old. How friggin' long am I supposed to buy a warranty for?
Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
I no longer have a warranty on my emac. I had 1 year. I am hoping I dont regret not purchasing Apple Care.
Originally posted by: Ornery
Ain't gonna happen. I NEVER buy extended warranties, and run everything I own, including cars, till they puke. I repair and upgrade everything myself, too. I'm certain that's exactly what keeps my head above water, without having to work my ass off. I never have to do without gadgets, either.
iDVD can now master images w/o a built-in SuperDrive, right?Originally posted by: AU Tiger
I picked one up the day they came out in the Apple stores. Posting from it right now. It sits nicely on top of my Shuttle SB75G2 which by the way is four times the height of the mini. The mini is smaller than most 5.25" external enclosures.
Bought it to play around with, so far I think I am going to keep it. Using it mostly for photos, music, and movie making. Of course I do have to transfer the dvd image to my pc to burn because I chose to go without the dvd burner.
Originally posted by: aves2k
Originally posted by: EmoHawk
How about you start by telling us why you think its a POS.
You also forgot to mention:Originally posted by: Cerb
VanillaH, I am impressed with the pricing.
Issues:
1. Nowehere close to as small.
2. No way anything that cheap will be near as quiet.
3. That is some serious mobo rebating, shaving $50 off a normal price.
Also, I didn't mention crap about a HTPC, and don't see how the mini would suit that job well--I agree fully. It fares quite well against similar OEM boxes, with a fairly minimal additional expense (especially for having almost no footprint).
I don't know anyone interested in the Mac Mini who isn't a techie.Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Hi Grandma, here's your pile of parts and rebate forms, and a CDR with linux. Have fun!
But seriously, the target audience for the mac mini is not someone comfortable with building a PC and running a unix/linux OS, it's someone who would otherwise buy a Dell or HP. For those people, it's a reasonable choice not the "POS" VanillaH claims it is.
(Not that anyone here seems to be agreeing with him anyway )
its cool, no harsh feelings at all we are just debating on piece of hardware, nothing at the personal level. instead of that mobo, you may as well grab one of those outpost combos. $77 for mobile barton is something that dates back to may 2004. i dont think you are getting what i am trying to say, so let me reiterate : these things will sell well to carefree mass with money to waste on their hands. as far as knoweldgeable folks goes, i am hardpressed to see a reason to get one. ultimately, for an average joe, a DVD player will do anything an average joe would do on a HTPC, and prolly much friendlier and easier to use while at it. you could say, "oh there are other things you could do on this, like checking email and such"... but hey, it is assumed you already have other peripherals and most probably another computer to use anyway if you are in the market for this thing...2. No way anything that cheap will be near as quiet.
3. That is some serious mobo rebating, shaving $50 off a normal price.
Also, I didn't mention crap about a HTPC, and don't see how the mini would suit that job well--I agree fully. It fares quite well against similar OEM boxes, with a fairly minimal additional expense (especially for having almost no footprint).
4. Does not include a legal copy of Windows. So even with rebates and refurbs VanillaH system costs $612 with XP Home, and involves a lot more work to buy parts from a bunch of different sites and Hot Deals.
Telling Joe Consumer PCs are a better deal because they're $112 more expensive, come in kit form, and require shopping at 4-6 stores and filling out rebates is not very convincing.
I am not the OP, i never said it was POS. if you cared to read, i did say it would be better for computer illiterates to buy this thing and quit bothering enlightened people around them.But seriously, the target audience for the mac mini is not someone comfortable with building a PC and running a unix/linux OS, it's someone who would otherwise buy a Dell or HP. For those people, it's a reasonable choice not the "POS" VanillaH claims it is.
1) it comes from OIT department of school, free thru MSND volume license. i am sure most every one of you have a copy of windows and all you have to do is give MS a call you switched your machine and you would like to re-activate your windows. dvd burner WAS included and i alloted more $$$ than it would cost if you want something as dysfunctional as those on macs.1) Where is your windows license? oops, an enterprise class license will cost you $140 more. Your DVD dvd burner was also not included in the cost. And its very large.
2) The Mac will be more stable. From the tweaking that needs to take place on Socket A sytems to the closed hardware platform of the Mac, there is no comparison.
Originally posted by: Ornery
Obviously, Mac consumers aren't concerned with "value".
Originally posted by: piroroadkill
Replace "Mac Mini" with "iPod Shuffle" and you have yourself a valid arguement. But you didn't. Go away.
Originally posted by: VanillaH
cerb, thx for challenging me and i will meet the challege
emu 1212M $175 @guitar center
p650 refurb $101 @newegg, works flawlessly btw
soyo k7vme $5 AR @mwave
mobile barton 2400 $77 @newegg
pc2700 512mb $50 AR @fry's electronics
WD 120gb hdd $45 @one of those B&M places, forgot which one
pioneer 107 -> this came from my old box, but you can find something equivalent for well below $40 AR.
case -> $19 and its NOT ugly. wish i had a digital camera so i could post pix
power/fan -> $20 @SVC and chiefvalue
-------------------------------------------------
total : $532, everything with tax and/or shipping included.
alright, i am over the $499 mark by ungodly $33 (shudders), but if i had to get one now, i could get one of those outpost combos. too bad that $49.99 duron combo is OOS.
admittedely, these are some of best prices you will see on the net, but that only reflects i am a smart shopper. why do you assume people need to buy things at MSRP? i guess its pretty fair to compare best case scenarios since there is no discount for macs and there will be none, which is one great thing about macs you cant deny there are numerous hdd/ram deals out there at any given moment. firewire? who needs that... for H. T. P. C. ?
the point is it is quite ambiguous what and who those mac minis are exactly meant for. when questioned about its lack of features at that price, you defend it by telling us it is a friggin HTPC and you cant ask too much out of it. but i would expect it to be a wonder machine at hefty $499 price tag. mac mini is simply incomparable in terms of A/V quality compared to that machine, and dvd players are better suited if you just want a simple basic dvd/divx playback capability. as someone else has pointed out in another thread, mac minis are inadequate for TV recording at stocks settings and necessary adjustment made to it would definitely jack up the price and make it look even clunkier than the 'ugly' PCs.